Movement Two

I just wanted to remind everyone about this Friday night. We’re going to meet at 7:00 and we’ve changed our location for this week. We’ll be gathering at Tad and Kimberly Thompson’s house. Directions are attached.

I’m also attaching a 1 page excerpt from the book that I mentioned previously. If you would please take the time to read over this (its only one page) before we get together that would be huge. This will be our first “official” gathering so it’s going to look like whatever we, as a collective, want it to look like. The night will be driven by our thoughts and conversations regarding the topic. So please come prepared to discuss and think and share.

We’re going to be discussing the idea of belonging before believing and how that was a central aspect of Jesus’ ministry and how we can move towards that same perspective. We’ll also talk a little about how important it is to maintain a generous and loving spirit when disagreements do arise within those who differ from us.

So just be thinking along those lines and come prepared to share whatever thoughts, struggles, hope, frustrations, or fears you have about that topic. If you have any questions or need better directions, call me or Anna at 404.376.5068.

Below is the article that I sent out in the email. If you're not getting the emails and you want to, please let me know.

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Excerpts were taken from The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III

Excerpted from pages 53-44
Bluntly stated, the Roman model for reaching people (who are “civilized” enough) is: (1) Present the Christian message; (2) Invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; and (3) If they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship. The Roman model seems very logical to us because most American evangelicals are scripted by it! We explain the gospel, they accept Christ, we welcome them into the church! Presentation, Decision, Assimilation. What could be more logical than that?

But you already know enough to infer the (contrasting) Celtic model for reaching people: (1) You first establish community with people, or bring them into the fellowship of your community of faith. (2) Within fellowship, you engage in conversation, ministry, prayer, and worship. (3) In time, as they discover that they now believe, you invite them to commit.

We can contrast the two models on a chart:

Roman Model
Presentation
Decision
Fellowship

Celtic Model
Fellowship
Ministry and Conversations
Belief, Invitation to Commitment

The Celtic model reflects the adage that, for most people, “Christianity is more caught than taught!” For most people, “belonging comes before believing.”

Excerpted from page 97
* Hunter is making the point that those who are on the outside of a particular culture are often thought of as barbaric, in the same way that those outside of Roman civilization and culture were considered to be barbaric. His point is not that those who aren’t “churched” are barbaric but that the church often treats this group that way because they don’t fit the walls of our current church culture.

Most churches assume (though this is seldom verbalized) that the postmodern “New Barbarians”* are unreachable, because they are not “civilized” enough to become “real” Christians. Remarkably, most churches assume this in a time when the “New Barbarians” are often the most receptive people in our communities; many are searching “in all the wrong places” for the kind of life they yearn for. The typical church ignores two populations, year after year: the people who aren’t “refined” enough to feel comfortable with us, and the people who are too “out of control” for us to feel comfortable with them!